The present invention relates to a facing element for use in a stabilized soil structure. It also relates to a stabilized soil structure comprising said facing element and to a method for erecting a stabilized soil or reinforced earth structure. This building technique is commonly used to produce structures such as retaining walls, bridge abutments, etc.
A stabilized soil structure combines a compacted fill, a facing, and reinforcements usually connected to the facing. The reinforcements are placed in the soil with a density dependent on the stresses that might be exerted on the structure, the thrust forces of the soil being reacted by the soil-reinforcements friction.
The invention more particularly concerns the case where the reinforcements are in the form of fill reinforcement strips of synthetic material, for example based on polyester fibers.
The facing is most often made up of facing elements, as for example in the form of prefabricated concrete elements, such as slabs or blocks, juxtaposed to cover the front face of the structure. There may be horizontal steps on this front face between different levels of the facing, when the structure has one or more terraces.
The fill reinforcement strips placed in the fill are usually secured to the facing by mechanical connecting members that may take various forms. Once the structure is complete, the reinforcements distributed through the fill transmit high loads, in some cases of up to several tons. Their connection to the facing needs to be robust in order to maintain the cohesion of the whole.
A facing element comprises a front face and a rear face extending along a longitudinal direction X and an elevation direction Z and a body between said front and rear faces.
The body of some known facing elements comprises at least a hollow part with an opening on the rear face wherein a cylindrical core is cohesive with the body and arranged at least partly in the hollow part to form an anchoring region for a fill reinforcement strip.
Patent document U.S. Pat. No. 5,839,855 discloses examples of a facing element where a passage intended to receive a fill reinforcement strip is in the shape of a C within the thickness of the facing element.
Although preceding facing elements are widely and effectively used, one has noticed that their cylindrical cores usually break according to a bending mode when being pulled by fill reinforcement strips. This breaking mode may limit the efficiency of the anchoring region and has to be taken into account when designing a stabilized soil structure comprising said facing elements.
It is an object of the present invention to propose a novel facing element for use in a stabilized soil structure, making it possible to reduce the incidence of the problems set out above.